Wathnan Racing

Though his best form in America is over a mile, Wathnan Racing's Tumbarumba (Oscar Performance) has successfully negotiated a step up in trip in his last couple of appearances in the desert and 6-year-old gelding has well and truly earned his chance at Saturday's $12-million G1 Dubai World Cup going the 2000 meters, his first try at the trip. One of just 837 horses foaled in Louisiana in 2020, Tumbarumba is a four-time stakes winner going eight furlongs, half of those since his acquisition by Wathnan in the summer of...

With the $30.5-million Dubai World Cup meeting now less than a week away, a quartet of American-based gallopers took to the Meydan main track Saturday morning to post their final major preparations. Defending G1 Dubai World Cup champion Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg}) is one of two in the main event for Wathan Racing  (and one of an impressive six runners across the evening) and the 6-year-old tuned up for the 2000-meter feature Saturday, covering a half-mile in :48 2/5, per trainer Brad Cox. "Cooled out great, he's handled the...

Last year's G1 Dubai World Cup winner Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg}) sat a little closer to the front than usual and just got up to nail the wandering pacesetter 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' Accelerize (Omaha Beach) by a head in Saturday's GIII Mineshaft S. at Fair Grounds. Time to Win (Not This Time) was third. The even-money favorite tracked in a three-wide third through an opening quarter in :23.53. Back a spot into fourth through a half mile :47.04, Hit Show was asked to quicken three furlongs...

Commandment (Into Mischief), a dominating winner of the Mucho Macho Man S. Jan. 3, will make his next start in the GII Coolmore Fountain of Youth S. at Gulfstream Park Feb. 28. The Wathnan Racing colorbearer returned to the worktab for trainer Brad Cox with a four-furlong breeze in :50.60 (16/27) at Payson Park Jan. 23. "Not long after the Mucho Macho Man, Brad (Cox) was thinking about the Fountain of Youth as a spaced-out target," said Case Clay, Wathnan's Racing Manager, USA. "He looks great and Brad's happy with...

SHARONS BEACH, SA, 1-23, 4th race, 6 1/2 furlongs BEYER SPEED FIGURE-89 (2nd) (g, 3, Omaha Beach--Cosmic Code, by Into Mischief) O-Panic Stable. B-Bryan Hawk (Ky). T-Jonathan Thomas. J-Umberto Rispoli. He has always been auspiciously supported: as a debut 2-1 choice on turf when he lost by 22 3/4 lengths, then at 8-5 on dirt when he faded to lose by 9 1/4 lengths, and again last week at 9-5. This time, he lived up to the stubborn optimism. Few could have expected a Beyer leap from 58 to 89,...

NOBLE AFFAIR (c, 3, Vekoma--Paden Affair, by Rockport Harbor) was unveiled Dec. 27 at this venue but sprinting on the turf, and ran on well to claim third in a blanket finish after trailing early on from eighth. Moved to the dirt for this second jump, he was asked to navigate a sloppy surface as Fair Grounds hustled to beat the weather, and left the gates carrying 3-1 odds on this seasonal debut. Out to set the pace through an opening quarter in :22.38 and after four furlongs in :45.89,...

BLACK CHERRY (f, 3, Liam's Map--Summer Raven {GSW, $168,910}, by Summer Squall) entered this contest with a bullet work to her name in preparation for her debut, and the betting public liked her to the tune of 7-2 odds as the race came off the turf in favor of the Tapeta. Breaking on top to show the way through an opening quarter in :21.77, she was still at the head of affairs as the field swung off the bend for the homeward run. Bracing as challenges arrived on both sides,...

Wathnan Racing's newly minted 3-year-old Commandment (Into Mischief) ran to the billing as the 1-2 favorite with a dominating win in Saturday's Mucho Macho Man S. going a one-turn mile at Gulfstream Park. Drawn on the fence, the $500,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase was fourth through opening fractions of :24.09 and :47.38. All dressed up with nowhere to go at the top of the stretch, Commandment bulled his way through in between horses beneath Irad Ortiz, Jr. and leveled off beautifully from there to win going away by 6 3/4...

Lea Farms' Thunder Chuck (Good Magic) will make his first start beyond 6 1/2 furlongs when he goes postward in the one-mile Mucho Macho Man Stakes at Gulfstream Park Saturday. Trainer Jorge Delgado said he is hoping the race is a first step towards a possible trip on the Triple Crown trail for the chestnut gelding. "We're trying to see how far we can get with him. Hopefully, this will be a step to the graded stakes on the route to the Derby," Delgado said. "The horse has been good...

Ain't she a beaut, Clark? A fantastic field of nine, led by 3-1 morning-line favorite and G1 Dubai World Cup hero Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg}), will line up for the GII Clark S. at Churchill Downs on Black Friday. The Wathnan Racing colorbearer defeated last year's re-opposing Clark winner Rattle N Roll (Connect) by a length in the GIII Hagyard Fayette S. at Keeneland last out Oct. 25. "We were really proud of Hit Show's effort in the Fayette," trainer Brad Cox said. "He hasn't missed a beat since...

Courage Mon Ami, the winner of the 2023 Gold Cup at Royal Ascot, has been retired from racing after failing to recover sufficiently from a tibia injury. Trained by John and Thady Gosden, Courage Mon Ami sported the now-familiar silks of Wathnan Racing when defeating Coltrane and Subjectivist in the Gold Cup, having been bought privately by the Emir of Qatar's burgeoning operation after his victory in a Goodwood handicap the previous month, his third win from as many starts for owner-breeder Anthony Oppenheimer. As well as becoming Wathnan's first...

NEWMARKET, ENGLAND - Be it at public auction or the private market, Wathnan Racing has ripped up the playbook in a short space of time and signaled yet another statement of intent at the Tattersalls Autumn Horses-In-Training Sale by adding recent Group 3 runner-up Gladius (Night Of Thunder) to its squad at 950,000gns. It was Blandford Bloodstock's top agent Richard Brown who landed a colt the Wathnan team knows well given he chased home the Qatari-based owner's Damysus (Frankel) in the G3 Darley Stakes at Newmarket when last seen. According...